Beginning this Sunday, February 4, Lenten devotional booklets from Presbyterians Today will be available for pickup in the narthex and the Fellowship Hallway. Please note that we can offer only one booklet per family.

Please join us next Wednesday, February 7, to hear Con Sauls speak on prayer in the Adult Learning program at 6:15 p.m. Come to the Fellowship Hall at 5:30 p.m. and enjoy a fellowship dinner of chicken, vegetable, salad, and dessert. The Middle School Gathering and Wednesday Night Kids will meet separately at 6:00. High School Small Groups will meet at 7:00. 

Come to our annual Women's Retreat in Blowing Rock, NC, February 23-25, for a restorative, fun weekend of exploring how God wants us to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith." You'll have time to relax with new and old friends and learn practical ways to set your mind on God's promises during these difficult days. As we learn how to keep our focus on God and His goodness, we'll experience greater connection with Him and learn to carry ourselves with more confidence in His faithfulness. Join us to learn about the peace God gives us through his Spirit and return home with tools to shine His light into a world that deeply needs the hope that only He can give!

Our speaker will be Joy Starnes Mast, an energetic woman who spent her early years thinking her first name was Settle Down. She likes to laugh, learn about others, listen to cello music, memorize scripture, drink coffee, eat kettle chips, and hang out in her comfy clothes. Joy now leads Releasity ("release-city"), a ministry that helps women who struggle with overeating by setting them free to go to God rather than to food for comfort. With a background in comedy training and speech therapy, Joy punctuates her messages with humor and practical tips for connecting with God in our everyday lives. Her hope is to communicate God's love and desire for His people in a winsome, down-to-earth, and compelling way. To learn more about her ministry, visit her website at www.joymast.com.

The Children's Ministry has scheduled a Parents' Night Out from 6:00 to 8:30 next Friday, February 9, and this time it offers parents a new opportunity. After leaving their children in safe hands in the Education Wing, parents can go out on a date on their own or they can dine in a host home. Parents who choose the second option must sign up with Lilly Osborne by Tuesday, February 6. In either case, she will need to know the number and ages of the children to expect so that she can provide meals and materials for all. To sign up for either option, contact Lilly at [email protected], call or text her at 423-383-5476, or use the Children's Ministry Facebook page. This event is for newborns through sixth graders.

FPC high school students can head to Katie and Brad Arnold's home (716 Spruce Street) on Super Bowl Sunday for football, good food, games, prizes, commercials, and fun! Bring an appetizer or drink to share. Invite your friends! The fun begins at 7:00 p.m. this Sunday, February 4.

Get ready for the big game by Super Bowling on Super Bowl Sunday! FPC middle school students will meet at Belmont Lanes for an epic bowling challenge from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. this Sunday, February 4. Team efforts, wacky challenges, prizes, and more! Wear socks! Contact Katie Arnold at [email protected] or 770-296-1671 to find out how much money to bring. Grab all your friends and let's have some super fun!

Sunday's music participants: Pat Flannagan, Bob Greene, Sanctuary Choir, Sanctuary Handbells.

Sunday's music: Last Sunday, the choir's anthem provided the text of the Nicene Creed, which has been an important part of Christian worship for centuries. This Sunday's offertory anthem, "Gloria in Excelsis," is a familiar text known as "The Greater Doxology."

	Dmitro Bortniansky

The Latin translation is traditionally attributed to Saint Hilary of Poitiers (c. 300-368), and the text has been included in Christian worship since the sixth century but omitted during the penitential seasons of Lent and Advent. The composer of this setting of the Gloria is Dmitro Bortniansky (1751-1825), a prominent Russian composer of church music. As a young man, Bortniansky was a singer at the Imperial Court and studied composition with the Italian Baldassare Galuppi (1706-1785). This experience gives Bortnianksy's music both a western and an eastern sound.

Both of Sunday's hymns are new for this congregation. The first hymn, with a text by John Bell, is set to a traditional Scottish tune. The final hymn comes to us from a New Zealand hymn writer and seems especially relevant to the celebration of the Lord's Supper.

Organist's footnotes: "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" is the most common English title of a piece of music derived from the tenth and last movement of the cantata "Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben" (BWV 147, "Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life"), composed by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1716 and 1723. Contrary to the common assumption, the violinist and composer Johann Schop, not Bach, composed the movement's underlying chorale melody, "Werde munter, mein Gemüthe." Bach's contribution was to harmonize and orchestrate it. This chorale melody, normally sung by the choir, will be played on handbells.

Volumes of commentary abound concerning Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Scholars have debated the date of its composition, and whether it was in fact Bach who composed it. Some believe it may have originated as a piece for solo violin in the key of A minor, later transposed and transcribed for organ. It has been deemed too simplistic to have been written by Bach and too much a stroke of genius to have been composed by anyone but Bach. The fact that it exists at all is semi-miraculous, as for nearly a century following its creation it may have existed as a single manuscript, copied by someone other than Bach. Whatever its origins, it has become one of the best-known compositions for organ today.

We gratefully acknowledge a gift from Tony and Cora Lee Raccioppo in memory of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Michael Raccioppo, to assist with the purchase of awnings recently installed at the church. We are also grateful for a separate gift from the Raccioppos to the MEP/Capital Campaign Fund, in honor of the Tom King Family Christmas Carolers; and for gifts from John and Karen Vann to the Brazil Mission Fund, in honor of Ron and Sandra Grubbs and Chuck and Barb Thompson.

Church Officers
ELDERS
Class of 2018	Class of 2019	Class of 2020
Aaron Brooks	Anna Booher	Nancy Allerton
Randy Cook	Lee Galliher	Rebecca Beck
Debbie McMillin	Pete Holler	David Hyde
Stuart Parker	Han Ong	Jordan Pennington
Chuck Thompson	Pete Stigers	Jerry Poteat
DEACONS
Class of 2018	Class of 2019	Class of 2020
Adam Abel	Sujean Bradley	Blake Bassett
Nancy Butterworth	George Linke	Rhonda Comer
David Ginn	Greg Roberts	Brenda Lawson
Rett Stocstill	Nate Sproles	Barbara Thompson
Ann Woods	Bill Whisnant

Sunday, February 4

8:30 a.m.       Worship, Fellowship Hall

9:45 a.m.       Sunday School

11:00 a.m.     Worship, Sanctuary

1:00 p.m.       Session of Elders Retreat, Room 123

5:00 p.m.       Middle School Super Bowling, Belmont Lanes

7:00 p.m.       High School Super Bowl Party, Katie Arnold's Home

Monday, February 5

5:30 p.m.       Adult Handbells

7:00 p.m.       Board of Deacons, Room 123

Tuesday, February 6

9:30 a.m.       Staff Meeting, Room 117

10:00 a.m.     Morning Prayer Group, Conference Room

7:00 p.m.       Boy Scout Troop 3, Scout Wing

Wednesday, February 7

9:30 a.m.       Women's DVD Bible Study, Coffee Klatch Room

4:45 p.m.       Savior's Singers Children's Choir

5:00 p.m.       MEF Advisory Comm., Room 124

5:15 p.m.       Baby & Toddler Care, Rooms 34-36

5:30 p.m.       Fellowship Dinner, Fellowship Hall

6:00 p.m.       Wednesday Night Kids

6:00 p.m.       Middle School Gathering

6:00 p.m.       Pastor Nominating Comm., Room 117

6:15 p.m.       Adult Learning, Fellowship Hall

7:00 p.m.       High School Small Groups

7:15 p.m.       Sanctuary Choir

7:30 p.m.       8:30 Worship Team, Fellowship Hall

Thursday, February 8

7:00 a.m.       Men's Bible Study, Parlor

8:30 a.m.        Meals on Wheels, Fellowship Hall

12:00 p.m.     Noon Bible Study, Room 117

Friday, February 9

6:00 p.m.       Parents' Night Out, Education Wing